Mr. Eddie Punch:

On the BDGP, we are in favour of schemes that put money into the hands of suckler farmers. The problem with the BDGP is that the objectives of breeding are being defined by the Civil Service rather than by the suckler farmer. The programme should continue but in a radically changed format in which each farmer is allowed to be master of his own destiny when it comes to breeding. It is a good idea to use programme data to try to get a calf per cow per year, for example. That is an efficiency and everybody can agree with that. However, the idea that one should focus on maternal traits must be examined and questioned. We believe that committed suckler farmers who are breeding for Italian live export markets should be encouraged and facilitated under the BDGP to continue using the quality Charolais, Belgian Blue or whatever bulls they have been using. Unfortunately, however, that is where it has gone wrong. We must allow people who know what they are doing to determine their own destiny.

On feedlots, last September I went on the "FarmLand" show and said there was a problem with feedlots, which is that they are being used to put cattle in at times, perhaps, farmers are getting the upper hand slightly. There are a number of issues. We must question whether they should be entitled to EU subsidies, particularly feedlots that are controlled by processors. In our view that is a conflict of interest.

Incidentally, on the question regarding sexed semen, I believe it can help. There are fertility issues but perhaps they can be solved. However, it will not help if sexed semen is used by dairy farmers to continue to produce small, narrow, sharpish, shrinking, Kiwi cross cows. No matter how much sexed semen works, if one is putting beef bulls on top of a fundamentally disastrous cow and one continues down that road of going worse and worse in terms of Kiwi cross, all the sexed semen in the world will not solve that problem.